High School Volleyball: Northwestern proficient in victory over Roncalli

September 24, 2008|By Dave Vilhauer, dvilhauer@aberdeennews.com

From thunderous kills to feathery tips to air-tight defense, the Northwestern Wildcats displayed why they are among the elite volleyball squads in South Dakota on Tuesday night. Northwestern was proficient in nearly every aspect of the game en route to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-13 non-conference victory over Aberdeen Roncalli at Roncalli Gym. The Wildcats, now 15-0, have dropped just four games all season. “Our team this year is very well rounded,” said Northwestern coach Nora Groft. No matter what the Cavaliers tried, the Wildcats seemed to have an answer. “They're a really good team,” said Roncalli senior setter Hannah Schmidt. “We tried finding spots. We tried hitting hard. They cover everything really well.” In fact, if there is one area where the Wildcats may be improved this season it is on back row defense. “Sometimes we've been criticized for being a very offensive-minded team,” Groft said, “and our young kids, especially, are very talented defensive players. They're very quick. I think we're a quicker team in the back row this year and that allows us to get to more balls.” Not that Northwestern had trouble at the net. With players like 6-foot 2-inch Megan Peterson pounding away, the Wildcats racked up 41 kills, led by Peterson with a dozen. Jussy Tuscherer added 10. “We played a very good game,” Peterson said. “We had one of our best games tonight, playing together.” Northwestern jumped out to a 10-1 lead and was never in trouble in the first game. The second game was a battle and the score was knotted at 12-12 before the Wildcats reeled off 11 straight points to take control. Peterson did the bulk of the damage with solid net play. The Wildcats bolted out to a 10-2 lead in the third game and never looked back on the way to the sweep. Roncalli coach Janet Wetz felt her team played well, despite the setback. “I said to the girls in the locker room, that they didn't play poorly,” Wetz said. “They played well.” However, finding solutions against a team with that many weapons is a tough task. “We worked on covering hitters and some blocking things,” Wetz said, “because we knew they were going to be big and they were going to block and they were going to hit.” Northwestern finished with a dozen aces, led by Shari Fischbach with five, to go along with its kill total. Groft kept rotating players in and each one found a way to contribute. “Our JV kids come in and they play in that varsity match and I thought those kids did a great job, tonight,” Groft said. “I thought everyone, top to bottom, played hard tonight. We got 11 kids in the match and everyone contributed.” Haley Zerr and Allison Thares each had four kills to lead Roncalli. Sarah Bock finished with three aces. Both sides said there were lessons to be learned following the match. “Every match is a learning experience,” Groft said. “We get to try different kids in different positions. That just makes us better in the long run.” When asked if the Cavaliers forget about the loss and move on, Schmidt responded, “We don't forget about it. We try and take everything we (can) learn from it. We know what we need to work on now.” Northwestern now hosts fellow Class B power Warner on Thursday. Roncalli, 3-11, plays host to Britton-Hecla at 8 p.m. Thursday at Roncalli Gym. Serving: Northwestern 69-74 12 aces (Shari Fischbach 14-17 5 aces, Maggie Clemenson 22-22 2 aces, Jenna Larson 11-11 2 aces); Aberdeen Roncalli 42-47 5 aces (Sarah Bock 10-11 3 aces, Hannah Schmidt 15-17). Hitting: Northwestern 76-87 41 kills (Megan Peterson 21-25 12 kills, Jussy Tuscherer 19-20 10 kills, Carly Peterson 10-11 8 kills); Aberdeen Roncalli 52-57 11 kills (Haley Zerr 12-14 4 kills, Allison Thares 16-17 4 kills). Setting: Northwestern 75-75 33 assists (C. Peterson 67-67 31 assists, Clemenson 5-5 2 assists); Aberdeen Roncalli 42-42 4 assists (Schmidt 38-38 3 assists). Digs: Northwestern 48 (Haley Wetzler 14, Fischbach 8, Mariah Taylor 8); Aberdeen Roncalli 60 (Ashley Gisi 21, Schmidt 8). Blocks: Northwestern 1 solo 4 assists (M. Peterson 2 assists, Fischbach 2 assists, Alexz Metzinger 1 solo); Aberdeen Roncalli 2 (Zerr 1, Rachel Carlsen 1). Records: Northwestern 15-0; Aberdeen Roncalli 3-11. JV Match: Northwestern 25-11, 25-13. Freshman Match: Northwestern 25-13, 18-25, 15-4.